Apparatus for applying a liquid conditioning agent to a thin layer of substantially parallel filaments



Aug. 10, 1965 T. R. LATOUR 3,199,

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A LIQUID CONDITIONING AGENT To A THIN LAYER OF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL FILAMENTS Filed June 14, 1962 INVENTOR. fflfODOkK XUDULPH [ATM/R ATTORNEY 3,199,492 APPARATUS FUR APPLYING A LIQUID CUNDI- TIQNKNG AGENT TU A THIN LAYER F SUB- STANTIALLY PARALLEL FILANENTS Theodore Rudoiph Latour, Kinston, N .C., assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Deh, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 14, 1%2, Ser. No. 202,485 2 Claims. (Ci. 118-123) This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Serial No. 830,800, filed July 31, 1959, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a new apparatus for treating fibers. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for applying uniform amounts of liquid conditioning agents to a continuously moving strand, especially a tow.

In the processing of textile fibers, it is often desirable to apply a lubricant or other liquid conditioning agent to the fibers in order to improve processability or to modify the proper-ties of the final products. A requisite of such an operation is that the conditioning agent be applied in a uniform quantity and that agents which include suspended solid particles or which tend to form more than one phase be applied in such a manner that the composition does not vary along the length of the fiber. It is, therefore, desirable to be able to apply a predetermined amount of conditioning agent of uniform composition to the fiber. Many processes and means for applying conditioning agents are known. However, the desired uniformity of application of the conditioning agent is obtainable only with difliculty. For example, known methods which utilize wicking devices, rotating rolls, immersion baths, and the like ordinarily deposit an amount of conditioning agent onto the moving strand, the application uniformity of which may be adversely affected by the composition of the conditioning material, the geometrical relationship between the moving strands and the applicator, as well as other physical factors. The exact amount of finish applied to the yarn under such circumstances cannot be acuurately ascertained except by analysis of the treated strand. In addition to the nonuniformity of quantity of conditioning agent applied to the strand, many of the known methods also promote quality fluctuations by unduly exposing the conditioning agent to the oxidizing action of air and the mixing of impurities which may appear on the surface of the strand being treated by recirculation of the conditioning agent in a bath.

\Itis, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying an accurately predetermined amunt of a liquid conditioning agent to a moving strand. Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for applying a conditioning agent to a moving strand which is essentially independent of variations in the strands properties. A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus which permits the direct application of a conditioning agent to a strand without recirculation of the treating agent. Other objects will be apparent from the detailed discussion which follows.

The apparatus of this invention comprises a plate-like member mounted in a perpendicular relationship to the terminal portion of a reservoir which is in communicatates aten tion with means for feeding a fluid under pressure at a controlled rate to the reservoir. Orifice means located in the plate-like member are in communication with the reservoir. Means for guiding a filamentary material across the plate are provided at each end of the long dimension of the orifice to maintain the width of the filamentary material at this point in its travel equal to the length of the orifice.

In the description and claims which follow, by the term strand is meant a multiplicity of individual filaments in continuous, substantially parallel arrangement to form a continuous structure having a length greatly in excess of any other dimension.

The details of the apparatus of the present invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the liquid-applying apparatus of the present invention, and

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view 2-2 of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 showing details of its construction and filamentary material passing across the liquid-applying orifice of the apparatus.

Referring to the figures, reference numeral 11 designates a conduit for supplying a liquid conditioning agent from a controlled delivery means, which is preferably a positive displacement pump 12, to reservoir 14. Reservoir 14 is attached to the underside of elongated plate 15 so as to communicate with narrow elongated orifice 16 along its entire length. A pair of guide elements 20 and 21, define the width of the moving strand at precisely the point of conditioning agent application through orifice 16. As indicated in FIGURE 2, the orifice 16 itself in plate 15 is slightly longer than the desired width of strand but is effectively narrowed to the exact width of the strand by slight overhang of guide elements 20 and 21 which are machined to seal against plate 15 when drawn into contact therewith by nuts 12 and 13. All edges of the plate 15 are rounded to prevent damage to the strand.

In operation, the controlled delivery means 12 is regulated to deliver liquid to reservoir 14 at a predetermined rate. A constant rate fiow of liquid emanates from orifice 16, which is designed to provide essentially equal flow at all points along its length. Tow 17 is withdrawn from a source not shown and passed across plate 15 by forwarding means not shown. The rate of travel of the strand and the length of plate 15 downstream from the orifice are controlled such that essentially all of the liquid being metered through orifice 16 is absorbed by the strand before it leaves the trailing edge 24 of plate 15.

In general, the required length of the plate down stream from orifice 16 will depend, among other things, upon the quantity of liquid being applied to the strand, the rapidity of absorption of the liquid by the strand, the desired speed of the strand as it moves across the plate and strand thickness when uniformly distributed across orifice 16. It will readily be apparent to one skilled in the art that other factors such as viscosity and surface tension of the conditioning agent and wettability of the strand are involved in determining the required length, some of which are diflicult to establish for all commercial conditions encountered. For this reason it has been snsaeeo found simpler to determine the required length by trial and error. Generally a length of 5" to 6" will suffice.

The orifice 16 may be of a suitable limited width which will provide an essentially uniform flow along its length of the quantity of liquid being metered from the controlled delivery source. With minor mechanical alterations, the width of the orifice may, if desired, be made adjustable by suitable automatic or manual means to provide the device with greater versatility of operation.

The ability of the apparatus of this invention to provide highly uniform treatment of textile fibers was demonstrated in a comparative test, using the apparatus of the present invention and a known liquid applicator which utilized an immersion roll. In the test, a 470,000 denier, 3 denier per filament tow of acrylonitrile polymer fiber was forwarded at a constant speed in a perpendicular direction across a slot 0.031 inch wide and 3 inches long. The slot was located 5 inches from the trailing or downstream edge of a smooth, flat, stainless steel plate of the type shown by reference numeral in the figures. The liquid conditioning agent, which had a viscosity of 2 eentipoises, was metered to the slot by a positive displacement metering pump through a conduit terminating in the reservoir which was attached to the plate as shown in FIGURE 2. No unabsorbed liquid was observed. Analysis of the treated tow by extraction of the conditioning agent with an organic solvent revealed that the tow absorbed 0.42% by weight of conditioning agent. Based on 21 analyses, it was found that a standard deviation 1 of only 0.02% occurred.

An attempt was made to duplicate the treatment of the tow using a rotating-immersion-roll applicator. The tow was passed across the partially submerged rotating roll in a direction perpendicular to its axis. Analysis of the tow after treatment revealed that 0.45% by weight of the conditioning agent was picked up by the tow. However, the standard deviation (using the equation given above) for the samples was 0.05%. From the comparative test it can be readily seen that, by using the process and apparatus of the present invention, significantly improved uniformity over that obtained by using known apparatus was obtained. This is readily seen in the meaning of the standard deviation calculation, that is, that 99% of the analyses will be within or $0.06 and i0.l5%, respectively.

Various modifications of the apparatus of the present invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art. For example, the Width and length of the orifice in the plate may be varied to produce the most uniform results with the kind and amount of conditioning agent required and the size and speed of the strand being treated. Under certain circumstances it may be advantageous to utilize the applicators of the present invention in tandem, i.e., one following the other after a reversal of strand direction of travel so as to treat the strand first on one side then the other.

The apparatus and process of this invention are also applicable to the treatment of a desired part or lateral fraction of a strand by the simple expedient or" controlling the orifice lengths in any suitable manner, as, for example, by inserting plug(s) in the orifice so as to shorten the orifice and leave the appropriate length open. Other modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

The principal advantage of the process and the apparatus of this invention resides in the fact that a liquid conditioning agent can be applied to a moving strand comprising a large number of individual filaments in a highly 1 Standard deviation= where zv percent by weight absorbed in individual analyses,

and 'n number of samples.

.l uniform manner. The apparatus is readily adaptable to the treatment or" all types of filamentary material and may be adapted for use with a variety of different conditioning agents. Since positive means of supplying the conditioning agent to the orifice is employed, stagnation and the settling out of the conditioning material is effectively controlled.

it will be apparent that many widely different embodiments of the p esent invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and, therefore, it is not intended to be limited except as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim: I

1. An improved apparatus for positively supplying and uniformly applying a liquid conditioning agent simultaneously to a thin layer of substantially parallel longitudinally moving textile filaments having a predetermined Width, said apparatus consisting of a support and liquid supply unit positioned in alignment along the path of filament movement, said unit consisting of a horizontal member disposed transversely to the path of filament movement and provided with a planar surface for engaging a given longitudinal portion of one side of the layer of moving filaments, said member provided at each side of said planar surface with laterally opposed guide elements for engaging and controlling the lateral position and said predetermined width of the layer of moving filaments, said member further provided with an internal passageway having a first end intersecting said planar surface in a single elongated narrow slot extending transversely to the direction of filament movement and having an elongated dimension slightly longer than said predetermined width of said layer, and a second end, said opposed guide el ments being positioned at each end of said elongated dimension of said slot to effectively narrow said elongated dimension of said slot to said predetermined width or" said layer of moving filaments, said internal passageway having between its ends a portion of expanded transverse cross section forming a storage reservoir, said unit further consisting or" a liquid agent positive displacement supply pump, said pump provided with one outlet connection; a single conduit element operatively connecting said pump outlet connection to saidsecond end of said internal passageway to positively supply a liquid from said pump via said internal passageway to said reservoir and through said slot to filaments passing over said planar surface of said ember, the position of said slot in said planar surface and the amount of liquid supplied by said pump so selected for a given rate of filament movement that the liquid positively supplied through said slot is substantially completely absorbed by said filaments before they pass from said planar surface.

2. An improved apparatus for positively supplying and uniformly applying a liquid conditioning agent simultaneously to a thin layer of substantially parallel longitudinally moving textile filaments having a predetermined width, said apparatus consisting of a support and liquid supply unit positioned in alignment along the path of filament movement, said unit consisting of a horizontal member disposed transversely to the path of filament movement and provided with a planar surface for engaging a given longitudinal portion of one side of the layer or" moving filaments, said member provided at each side of said planar surface with laterally opposed guide elements for engaging and controlling the lateral position and said prev determined width of the layer of moving filaments, said member further provided with an internal passageway having a first end intersecting said planar surface in a single elongated narrow slot extending transversely to the direction of filament movement and having an elongated dimension slightly longer than said predetermined Width of said layer, and a second end, said opposed guide elements being positioned at each end of said elongated dimension of said slot to effectively narrow said elongated dimension of said slot to said predetermined Width of said layer of moving filaments, said internal passageway having between its ends a portion of expanded transverse cross section forming a storage reservoir, a single conduit element operatively connected to said second end of said internal passageway to supply a liquid under pressure v-ia said internal passageway to said reservoir and through said slot to filaments passing over said planar surface of said member, the position of said slot in said planar surface and the amount of liquid supplied so selected for a given rate of filament movement that the liquid positively supplied through said slot is substantially completely absorbed by said filaments before they pass from said planar surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS D. NEVIUS, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH B. SPENCER, Examiner. 

1. AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR POSITIVELY SUPPLYING AND UNIFORMLY APPLYING A LIQUID CONDITIONING AGENT SIMULTANEOUSLY TO A THIN LAYER OF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL LONGITUDINALLY MOVING TEXTILE FILAMENTS HAVING A PREDETERMINED WIDTH, SAID APPARATUS CONSISTING OF A SUPPORT AND LIQUID SUPPLY UNIT POSITIONED IN ALIGNMENT ALONG THE PATH OF FILAMENT MOVEMENT, SAID UNIT CONSITING OF A HORIZONTAL MEMBER DISPOSED TRANSVERSELY TO THE PATH OF FILAMENT MOVEMENT AND PROVIDED WITH A PLANAR SURFACE FOR ENGAGING A GIVEN LONTITUDINAL PORTION OF ONE SIDE OF THE LAYER OF MOVING FILAMENTS, SAID MEMBER PROVIDED AT EACH SIDE OF SAID PLANAR SURFACE WITH LATERALLY OPPOSED GUIDE ELEMENTS FOR ENGAGING AND CONTROLLING THE LATERAL POSITION AND SAID PREDETERMINED WIDTH OF THE LAYER OF MOVING FILAMENTS, SAID MEMBER FURTHER PROVIDED WITH AN INTERNAL PASSAGEWAY HAVING A FIRST END INTERSECTING SAID PLANAR SURFACE IN A SINGLE ELONGATGED NARROW SLOT EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY TO THE DIRECTION OF FILAMENT MOVEMENT AND HAVING AN ELONGATED DIMENSION SLIGHTLY LONGER THAN SAID PREDETERMINED WIDTH OF SAID LAYER, AND A SECOND END, SAID OPPOSED GUIDE ELEMENTS BEING POSITIONED AT EACH END OF SAID ELONGATED DIMENSION OF SAID SLOT TO EFFECTIVLEY NARROW SAID ELONGATED DIMENSION OF SAID SLOT TO SAID PREDETERMINED WIDTH OF SAID LAYER OF MOVING FILAMENTS, SAID INTERNAL PASSAGEWAY HAVING BETWEEN ITS ENDS A PORTION OF EXPANDED TRANSVERSE CROSS SECTION FORMING A STORAGE RESERVOIR, SAID UNIT FURTHER CONSISTING OF A LIQUID AGENT POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT SUPPLY PUMP, SAID PUMP PROVIDED WITH ONE OUTLET CONNECTION; A SINGLE CONDUIT ELEMENT OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID PUMP OUTLET CONNECTION TO SAID SECOND END OF SAID INERNAL PASSAGEWAY TO POSITIVELY SUPPLY A LIQUID FROM SAID PUMP VIA SAID INTERNAL PASSAGEWAY TO SAID RESERVOIR AND THROUGH SAID SLOT TO FILAMENTS PASSING OVER SAID PLANAR SURFACE OF SAID MEMBER, THE POSITION OF SAID SLOT IN SAID PLANAR SURFACE AND THE AMOUNT OF LIQUID SUPPLIED BY SAID PUMP SO SELECTED FOR A GIVEN RATE OF FILAMENT MOVEMENT THAT THE LIQUID POSITIVELY SUPPLIED THROUGH SAID SLOT IS SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETELY ABSORBED BY SAID FILAMENTS BEFORE THEY PASS FROM SAID PLANAR SURFACE. 